Federal prosecutors in Boston announced Tuesday they are dropping criminal charges against Kseniia Petrova, a Russian-born scientist at Harvard University accused of smuggling frog embryos into the United States. The move comes after a federal judge allowed Petrova to seek evidence supporting her claim that the Trump administration had vindictively prosecuted her.
In a court filing, prosecutors stated that while they considered Petrova's claims "meritless," continuing the prosecution would divert resources from "more substantial federal interests." Petrova's lawyer, William Fick, expressed relief that this "terrible ordeal" would soon end.
Petrova, a biomedical researcher at Harvard Medical School, was detained by U.S. immigration authorities at Boston's airport in February 2025 after her visa was revoked upon returning from a trip to France. Prosecutors initiated criminal proceedings in May 2025, while a federal judge in Vermont was considering her release from an immigration detention facility.
According to allegations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents stopped Petrova after her checked duffel bag was flagged, revealing frog embryos that should have been declared. Petrova, who pleaded not guilty to smuggling and false statement charges, maintained that her supervisor had asked her to bring back the samples for research.
Her legal team argued that the charges were retaliatory, stemming from her decision to contest immigration proceedings and part of a broader campaign by the Trump administration against researchers and academic institutions. A federal judge in Vermont ruled in April that Petrova's visa had been unlawfully canceled. Last month, a Boston judge found that she had presented sufficient evidence of selective prosecution to warrant access to government records supporting her claim.